termesvstiréesConfusable pair

Quick tell: termes is a noun, tirées is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“termes” is a noun and “tirées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,425
“termes” frequency rank
#11,678
“tirées” frequency rank
13103
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature termes tirées
Definition Pluriel de terme. Féminin pluriel de tiré.

Where the eye mixes termes and tirées

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. termes (CVCCVC) and tirées (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
termes
6 ch
tirées

Why the eye confuses termes with tirées

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: termes is \tɛʁm\ while tirées is \ti.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

termes is recorded at frequency rank #1,425, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛʁm\. tirées is at rank #11,678, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ti.ʁe\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 13103, this pair ranks #402,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of termes vs tirées

Shared letters: erst. Private to "termes": m. Private to "tirées": .

"termes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tirées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • termesetrmes · temres · terems · termess · termmes · termse · terrmes · tremes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "termes" for "tirées" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "termes" is a noun and "tirées" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "termes" or "tirées" show up more?
"termes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,425 in our French list, against #11,678 for "tirées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "termes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tirées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #402,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "termes" and "tirées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tirées vs tories". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #402,426 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list